Bahá'í timeline

The following is a basic timeline of the Bábí and Bahá'í religions emphasizing dates that are relatively well known. For a more comprehensive chronology of the timeline, see the references at the bottom.

September, restrictions are enforced on the Báb's movement within Shiraz after he declares himself to be the Mahdi publicly.

Government reports initiate coverage in the West first mentions the arrest and imprisonment of Mullá 'Alíy-i-Bastámí of the Bábí religion. It was published in The Times of London November 1 and several times thereafter.[4]

Dr. Rev. Austin Wright sent materials of the Báb and a letter/paper about events related to the religion to the American Oriental Society - he wrote the letter February 1851 and it was published June.[8] The letter/paper was published in June a Vermont newspaper as well.[9] Some of it was also translated into German by his supervisor, Rev. Justin Perkins, and was thought for many years to have not been published in English though even in its German form Wright had been named as the first person to write a paper on the Bábí-Bahá'í period.[10]:pp.10,73

E. G. Browne, a famed Cambridge orientalist interviewed Bahá’u’lláh and was His guest at Bahjí from 15 April to 20 April 1890. Browne was the only Westerner to meet Bahá’u’lláh and leave an account of his experience. In Browne's 1893 publication entitled A Year Among the Persians, he wrote a sympathetic portrayal of Persian society. After his death in 1926 it was reprinted and became a classic in English travel literature. Browne described Baha'u'llah as, "The face of Him on Whom I gazed, I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow… No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain..."[17]

May 29, Bahá'u'lláh dies, his mortal remains are placed in a Shrine dedicated to him next to the Mansion of Bahjí where he spent his final years. In his will he appointed 'Abdu'l-Bahá to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith.

November 4, Shoghi Effendi dies without children and without appointing a successor Guardian. The temporary role of 'Head of the Faith' is taken up by 27 Hands of the Cause with plans to complete the Ten Year Crusade and elect the Universal House of Justice.

A wave of persecution of Bahá'ís in Morocco ends in mid April with a royal pardon against death sentences for being Bahá'í in Morocco after months of diplomatic newspaper.[20] and television coverage in the United States.[21]

April 21, the first Bahá'í World Congress takes place in London. The first Universal House of Justice is elected by representatives of 56 National Spiritual Assemblies gathered in Haifa, in synchronization with the end of the Ten Year Crusade and the centenary of the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh in the Garden of Ridván.[22][23]